I took our Labradoodle and English Pointer for a little walk around the block at lunch the other day, and towards the end, Sadie (doodle) pulled towards the curb and started sniffing something. I looked down, and sure enough, she had found a Purple Spored Puffball! I praised her and thanked her for her good work (she is hardwired to find “ball” anywhere she goes, so I wasn’t surprised). Then, I made the assumption that the neighbor wasn’t going to eat it, so I scooped it up and brought it home to cook with!
Since it was a smaller puffball, we decided to serve it as an hors d’oeuvre, so we put on our thinking caps and found inspiration in our Devils on (Sea)Horseback and Speck Wrapped Scallops recipes. The crispy saltiness of the bacon with the softness of the mushroom and the spicy vinegar flavour of the mustard wound up creating a concert in our mouths as we ate.
We hope that next time you’re mowing, if you see one of these glorious growths in your yard, you pick it up, do your research to make sure you have exactly what you think you have (check a few different sources for safety sake) and that it’s all white on the inside…and enjoy feasting!
Time: 20 Minutes
Ingredients:
- Edible Puffball Mushroom of your Choice. We used a Purple Spored Puffball.
- Bacon
- Whole Grain Mustard
Method:
- Rinse your puffball, and remove the very bottom part where it attached to the earth.
- Slice the puffball in half from top to bottom, and ensure that the flesh is white and edible.
- Use a paring knife to remove the skin, and discard said skin.
- Slice your two puffball halves into the size morsels you like.
- Lay some bacon on your cutting board (remove excess fat as you wish), and place one mushroom strip on each piece of bacon.
- Roll your mushrooms up in the bacon.
- Heat a pan with a little oil in it, and when it’s hot, add your bacon wrapped mushrooms.
- Cook until the bacon on the pan-touching side is crispy and golden brown. Then, rotate. Keep doing this until all of your bacon is crispy and ready to go!
- Plate, top with a little dab of your mustard, devour, and enjoy!
